Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Trauma Trivia
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
21 Apr 2021
🖨️ Print Article
Trauma Trivia
Trauma Trivia

We play America’s longest running game, 
Trauma Trivia—gambling blue—
Daily, weekly, monthly, annually—decades, 
Centuries at a time…We play it again and 
Again and again and again… and… again…

We play: Legal Lynching Blues For 10:
Name the cop whose tatted arm snuffed out Eric 
Garner’s life—boot heel grinding cigarette butt in-
to sidewalk? Name the  executioner cop who kneeled for 9 min. 
naturalizing the apartheid state’s Knee-o-Teen.

We play: Blue Steel Police Gang Names For 20:
Why do police gangs claim names like “Benevolent”
and “Fraternal?”
Name the police gang whose initials rhyme with
slop.

We play: Navy Blue Nicknames For 40:
NYPD officer Williams was nicknamed “Clubber”
because he frequented NYC Jazz clubs: True or False?
True or False: Oakland officer Vasquez was nicknamed
“Choker” because he missed free throws in pickup basket-
ball games? 
Chicago officer Davis was nicknamed “Gloves” because he
battled cold hands throughout his career: True or False?
True or False: Oakland cops nicknamed “The Riders” drove

low-income West Oakland seniors to medical appointments?
Why was Oakland officer Siapno was nicknamed the “Foot
Doctor?” 

We play: Thin Blue Mistakes For 10:
Name the first cop to top the charts with, “I Mis-
took My Taser—Ooops—My Gun For My Taser…”
Name the cop who had a hit covering it…
Which cop charted with the hit “I Shot The Black
Intruder Who Lived In The Apartment I Believed 
Was Mine?”
Name the cop who mistook Mike Brown for Hulk
Hogan and gunned him down?
Name the cop who mistook Walter Scott’s back
for a bullseye and commenced target practice? 

We play: Blue Impersonators Matter For 5:
Name the Florida police impersonator that executed 
a teen for snacking while Black. 
What father and son police impersonator duo had a
hit covering Junior Walker and The Allstars’ “Shotgun?”

We play America’s longest running game, 
Trauma Trivia—gambling blue—
Daily, weekly, monthly, annually—decades, 
Centuries at a time…We play it again and 
Again and again and again… and… again…
And only you… And you… And you… And
You… can end our deadly addiction….

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx

More Stories


  • Sami Al-Arian
    Why Hamas believed the status quo was more dangerous than its 7 October gamble
    07 Oct 2026
    Three years into Israel's genocide in Gaza, the consequences of a decision driven by siege, settlement expansion, and assaults on Al-Aqsa are still unfolding.
  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report October 2, 2026
    02 Oct 2026
    In this week’s segment we hear about the right-wing politics of the anti-migrant movement in South Africa, ANC failures, and upcoming elections in that country. But we begin with the first and only…
  • Chris Smalls
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Chris Smalls' "When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class"
    02 Oct 2026
    Chris Smalls discusses his memoir, "When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class," published by Penguin Random House. He is the first and only union leader to successfully…
  • South Africa anti-immigration march
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    South Africa's "March and March" Collaborates with Right Wing Afrikaners
    02 Oct 2026
    Our guest is Nairobi based political writer and strategist Clinton Nzala. He joins us to provide an update and an analysis of the South African anti-migrant March and March movement, which is…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Defending a Non-Existent International Law
    30 Sep 2026
    The Hague Group’s goal is to “. . . take coordinated legal and diplomatic measures against Israel’s violations of international law.” But international law was never a reality.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us